Om Shanti

Biggest news right now....we have a new PUPPY!

ok, now that everyone has a chance to say either; 1. congrats! 2. are you crazy?? 3. you got ANOTHER dog- are you absolutely completely crazy???

Yes, we must be crazy, but bottom line is, everyone loves a puppy and she is god-awful adorable.  She is a lab/terrier mix we named "Shanti" - "PEACE" in Hindi/Sanskrit.  She will be 4 months old on Feb 7, and so far she is living up to her name at least in temperament.  (NOT as in peacefully sleeping at 4am, but that is expected when you get a new baby/puppy).   She is fairly small, in my opinion, for her age, so I'm hoping that we don't get a 90 pound lab when all is said and done.  Max is starting to appreciate having a playmate that doesn't hiss and run away when he starts chewy on his head, and they have been playing chase, keep away, and a couple of WWE moves I don't know the names of.

Max enjoying his pool

Big things happened right at the end of the year, Brian started a new job, and left the home office, which is one reason why we started considering getting a canine companion for Mr. Pickles (aka Max the mookie).  I thought we should go for a more mature dog, around Max's age, but unfortunately, Brian found the petfinder puppy page and there was a perfect storm where they just happened to be showing at a local pet store in an area we were going to be.  Within 2 minutes, maybe, Shanti was sitting in my lap, and Brian says..."I guess we're taking THIS one."  Luckily, I had already filled out an app for this event on the chance there would be a dog we liked there, and of course, though I had looked at, and applied for several other dogs, once you have a puppy in your lap, it's yours....in my opinion, an uncontested law of the universe.   She is surprisingly mellow for a puppy, she sits very prettily, and is learning down and shake quite well.  She has good social skills- we met the airedale next door and the toy pomeranian down the street.  She was interested in meeting with the cats, who tripled their size or hid when they saw her first, and she really wanted to play with the bunnies (just about her size), but couldn't figure out why they wouldn't come out of their kennel and play?

Favorite pose at the mo'

FIRST dog I have ever owned that plays fetch, tug, chews on squeaky toys and doesn't demolish plush ones. I'm pretty excited to see what she does with a frisbee when the weather warms up.  She is also not that mouthy, despite a bevy of needle little puppy teeth, so my hands, feet, etc are very happy about that.  I think I will skip puppy school and just wait a few months for basic obedience.  I think she will know most of the commands in 2 months anyway.   She also likes to 'walk herself'.  It's quite funny, never having a dog that we didn't have to constrain in some way in order not to get dragged down the sidewalk.

Ok. Enough about Shanti.  But, you know, it's really quite nice to write about new life, energy, love, and all that stuff in a cancer blog, especially when dealing with the deaths of 2 more members of our local Gilda's club within the past month.

So here is the REVELATION part of today's blog: I FINALLY realized what I wanted to do when I grow up.  Teach Yoga.  I've known it for a long time, but with my RA, I never really thought that I would be able to stand up to the rigors I imagined a Yoga teacher must have to go through to be a Yoga teacher.   But, I realized AFTER I went through my cancer journey that I was able to do yoga all through out my surgeries and treatment, at times, the only thing that seemed to keep me sane.  If *I* can do yoga during cancer, I certainly can become a teacher and help others that are going through the same or similar ordeals.  Studies have shown the women who do yoga during breast cancer treatment get through it with better mental outlook and fewer reported side effects.  Personally, I think that they have the same amount of side effects, but use Yoga to manage them, thus taking control of their own experiences.

I learned that during childbirth.  When I was on the monitor and knew the contraction was coming, I could start breathing and relaxing BEFORE I felt the actual pain, and was able to get through it.  When I was off the monitor and the pain hit me first, it was a lot harder to deal with.  Cancer, RA, diabetes, MS, MD, heart-attack, stroke- whatever- these things take away the misconception that WE can control what happens to our bodies.  I ate organic food, exercised, etc. etc. and still I have these diseases.  I can view myself as a victim of these diseases or I can use my yoga practice to take control back from the disease and manage it.  That means I win, despite whatever happens to me.   Just about the time I decided I REALLY wanted to take the teacher training certification offered through Hillaire Lockwood's Hilltop Yoga studio (BTW -Hillaire is a chronic cancer survivor and KICKS ASS!),  I was approached by a recruiter for a staffing firm in Lansing.  Looking for a Business Analyst to do some testing for the State of MI.   About 10 minutes from Hillaire's Old Town studio.  The home office for my new company, Analysts Int'l is in Okemos, which is close to her Haslett studio.  hmmmmmm......can we say Serendipity?

I knew that when the right job came up, I would know it, and guess what, I did!  So, though I'm just finishing my first month on the contract, things seem to be going pretty well.

Brian took me to a pottery wheel workshop courtesy of Groupon and I made a bowl!  Wasn't really sure what it was going to be, but here it is.  I think it turned out pretty nice.  I think it will end up being a cookie bowl for the pooches....


Even though my favorite bellydance instructor Na'imah (below, far left front) LEFT US to fend for ourselves in the month of December while she went galavanting around India, she did post this lovely pic of one of our classes working on our choreography piece to Ma Tes’al Aaleya, and it actually looks like we all know what we are doing~!  

at BellyDanc Grand Rapids (I'm in the back corner)

I'm having a blast with bellydancing, it's so fun to do on a Sunday afternoon, it really helps with that Sunday evening dread of heading back to work the next day.  Additionally, I started Zumba-ing on Thursdays at my local Y...something I don't think I would have the nerve to do before all this.  THAT is hard work, but I'm starting to get good at some of the routines and having a lot of fun, which is the most important part.   I've kind of put running on the back burner, too many irons in the fire right now, but I think once Connor starts up spring soccer, I'll get back to running, since there is a good track around the field where he practices.

SO.....that is a LOT for one post, but I figure what I'm lacking in frequency these days, I'll make up in content.

Brian got a new gaming PC for xmas, and tricked out the old one with all new gaming parts, so I can have the laptop, since I lost mine when I left Farmers.  I felt a little naked without it on the weekends, even if I never opened it up.  Sort of like when you lose your phone, even if it's just misplaced, you get that panicky feeling of being disconnected.  oh what technology has done to us!!!  In any event, the thought was to get two gaming computers so I can use the laptop, which works out sort of ok, until my son wants to play some game that's only on the laptop.  Luckily, we are now in stasis- one computer for each member of the family with opposable thumbs.

But for now we've come to the end of the January installment of BCIMB.  Hopefully February will continue to bring good things into our lives. Until then-

OM shanti OM
~love, pixie